Tips on How to Handle Home Distractions

When we work from home we are often faced with many at-home distractions while we are trying to work on our businesses. These distractions can make or break your business if you let them get out of control. The best way to get a grip on your work-at-home distractions is to immediately set up a day to day schedule of when you will be working on your business. You want to schedule in your days and block off hour(s) of time that you are committing yourself to work on the business. Try to set up your schedule for 3-4 weeks in advance. Once your schedule has been completed it is now time to work on part two of "killing the work at home distractions" plan.

For the next part you will want to make sure you that you tell those who "distract" you during the day that from now on you will be unavailable on such and such days from such and such time as you will be working. You want to let these people know that you will be available for emergencies but you won't be available for chit-chat, babysitting, gossip, errand running, etc.

For Telephone Distractions: If your voice mail has multiple box settings...set up a voice mail box just for your friends and family members to leave their messages in and another box for business messages. You should never have personal and business messages mixed together. Caller ID is a wonderful thing and you should be utilizing it during your working time. Screen all your calls and try to only take business related calls during your working hours.

For Doorbell Distractions: Most of us know when we are expecting visitors to our home so when unexpected visitors show up during your working time...you can do one of two things. You can "peep" out a window and for non-emergency visitors...let the doorbell ring. Your other alternative is to answer the door, see what your visitor wants and then explain to them that you are working right now and ask them politely to come back at another time. An unexpected visitor who pops in can really consume the time you planned that day to work so you need to think about how you are going to handle this.

For Kid Distractions: If you are like most women who work from home you probably have children who are still at home and not in school yet. If that is the case...you will need to be creative on how you handle distractions by your children. There are many things you can do to keep young children busy while you work. Here are a few ideas shared with me by other women who work from home. Choose one or more to help you stay on track during your work day.

* Set up a child size mini office for your kids. While you are working you can have the kids play "office" and every once in a while engage them and give them "office" type of things to do.

* Purchase a few plastic bins and stock them with toys, arts and crafts, videos, etc. Each day get one of the bins out and let the kids play with the items in that particular bin. When you are done working, clean things up and put the bin away. You want to only let the children play with those items during your working time so that they don't get bored with playing with the same things day after day...this is why I recommend multiple bins with a wide variety of items in them.

* Exchange play dates with other work at home or stay at home moms. Play dates cost you nothing! One afternoon you can invite Jane's child over to play with your child and then another day Jane can take your child to her house to play for a while. By exchanging play dates with another mother that you trust, you free up your time to work on your business in peace and quiet and it gives the other mother some much needed time to herself too.

By using these tips, you should be able to be very productive during your scheduled office hours and you can watch your direct sales business grow because of it as well.